


I Forgive You

by thecomebackkids99



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Reunion, Sorry Not Sorry, married, olicity - Freeform, this story is not all fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-05-25 13:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6197110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecomebackkids99/pseuds/thecomebackkids99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's also why I asked her not to show you this message until after your 18th birthday. I wanted to give you a real childhood. I wanted to give you that gift. Goodbye, Son. I sure hope it's not forever." ~ Oliver Queen, 4x15 </p><p>A week after his 18th birthday, William Clayton shows up on the Queen's doorstep. He's watched Oliver's video and he's there to meet the Queen family. <br/>But in the meantime, the son of an old foe makes his move and leaves the team in shambles with only one option: to continue on and  fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Oooh….no, no, no!” The Jenga tower toppled as Oliver pulled the small wood piece out. “Darn it.”

Laurel, Ellie, and Parker all howled with laughter. Laurel, the oldest at nine, raised her hands in the air. “The girls won! You lose! Meaning girls are better!”

Oliver chuckled and kissed each girl’s hair. “I learned that a long time ago.” His eyes locked with Felicity, who sat at her computer, sending information to Team Arrow. The Queens took the night off for a family night, but even after a pregnant Thea took lessons from Felicity on how to hack and be amazing, she still couldn’t figure out how to disable security. The two times she tried would have ended in Oliver’s arrest if Captain Lance hadn’t been there. “They all good?”

“Yep. The team just sent a few arrows into some gang bangers. They’re all going to jail tonight with a few wounds. Oops.”

“Stop sounding so…”

“Heartless? I know. But I’m feeling heartless tonight.” She stood and came to stand behind him. “I think it’s time for bed for you three. We have a big day tomorrow.”

“We get to go down to the lair and see Aunt Thea and Uncle Roy!” Seven-year-old Ellie squealed and then jumped into Oliver’s lap. “I love them. But I love you and Mommy more.”

“I love you, Ellie. And you, Parker, and you, Laurel.” He kissed each of them and then watched as Felicity led them upstairs to their bedrooms. Laurel didn’t like sleeping alone, so she and Parker shared a room, while Ellie took her own. She liked to be alone. Oliver guessed that her computer that Felicity bought her when she was a year old was put to good use every night. Felicity monitored it, and she said once that the search history included ‘is it possible for me to be a superhero?’ They all knew Oliver was the Green Arrow and Felicity used the name Overwatch. They were safer knowing.

Felicity came down and plopped next to Oliver on the couch. “What should we do? It’s been over a year since we’ve been home all night.”

“Knowing us, something will come up in the next hour and there goes our date night.”

She giggled. “That’s us to a capital ‘T’.”

The doorbell rang.

Oliver stiffened. Any doorbell or knocking at nine o’ clock at night brought worry to his heart. Then a knock sounded.

“Don’t you dare go for the bow under the couch. Just go open it. It’s a timid knock. Whatever…whoever is behind the door will not hurt you. There’s a ninety-nine percent chance it’s not Slade Wilson. And if it’s him, he’s old and frail and you’ll be able to beat him. Easily.”

“Thank you, Felicity. For those encouraging comments.” He tossed her a glare over his shoulder and walked to the door. Felicity hated when he looked through the curtains to make sure it wasn’t Slade Wilson or Malcolm Merlyn back from the dead. When he opened the door, his breath escaped him. “Uh….hello.”

The boy―man―brought himself up to his full height when the door opened. He was taller than Oliver. “You’re Oliver Queen, right?”

“Yes. I am.” Oliver squinted at the man. The hair, the face…and the date. He didn’t pay attention to the time of year or even the hour, but he realized today that it had been eight years since he and Felicity had their last breakup. Which meant that his oldest son would be…. “Oh, God. W-W-William?”

“Hi. It’s me. Your son.”

“Oh my God. William.” Felicity grabbed Oliver’s arm and leaned against him. “It’s William.”

“Son.” Oliver regained his voice. He pushed open the door wider and gestured to the living room. “Please. Come in.”

“Thank you.” William stepped inside and took a deep breath. “I hope I’m not intruding on personal time. I… thought that you and your wife would be off doing your nightlife thing.” He glanced around the room, no doubt taking in the desk right by the kitchen with five computers. And the gun case in the living room. “Are people possibly spying right now or can I mention you know what?”

Felicity giggled. “I feel like you have been hanging out with a mini me. And if it makes you feel any better, I make sure that this place is very well protected. Please, sit. I’m assuming you know this, but I’m Felicity.”

“I know. And you have three daughters. Laurel, Ellie, and Parker. I…I looked you up. I thought that I would know as much as I possibly could.” William sat down on the couch and immediately started rubbing his thighs. “My mom gave me your message. On my eighteenth birthday. Which was a week ago. She kept track of you over the years, and she knew exactly where you were. I never forgot that day…when you saved me from Darhk. I, uh, still have that Green Arrow figure.”

Oliver smiled through his tears. Here, his Son sat across from him. He’d dreamed of this day. Those quiet dreams were kept to himself because he knew that Felicity would worry about him, and William. And their own children. “William, let me first start by saying…I’m so sorry.”

Felicity took his hand and squeezed. “ _We’re_ sorry.”

“For…for everything. Your mother, Samantha, and I made a decision that we hoped would be best. We both wanted you to stay out of harm’s way, and at that point, that was the best option.”

“To stay as far away from me as possible. I know.” William nodded, and a cloud of anger swept over his face. “I’ve learned over the years that changing the past is impossible, so it’s pointless to wonder what would have happened, but still. I’m your son. Couldn’t you have made it work? You have three daughters now. Obviously something changed. Because now you have a family. You’re mayor. Felicity, you’re the CEO of a multi-billionaire company. Even your sister and her husband have kids. And with a little facial recognition software I got from Iris…”

“Allen.” Felicity finished for him.

A little smile tugged at his lips. “Iris Allen, I was able to see that she and Roy are the red ones. So…why couldn’t I have been in your life?”

Oliver sighed. “I’ve asked myself that question over and over again. When Felicity and I learned that we were expecting, we had to quickly come to grips about our nightlife and our other life. After Ellie was born….I looked you up. Felicity did. I saw your mom married, and that you had a little sister. I didn’t want to disrupt your life like that. I wanted to. But I couldn’t.”

Felicity tapped his thigh to let him know she would finish it. “What Oliver is trying to say is that we didn’t want you to know about this. We didn’t want you to worry about our night life. You had a family. A normal family. Every night Oliver and I go to our lair, there’s a chance we won’t come back. One night it might be Thea, or Roy, and then their children won’t have a mommy or daddy. One night it might be one of us. We’ve lost a lot of friends in this line of work. Sara. Laurel. Ray. And that’s just three of them. When you were twelve, thirteen…we didn’t want you to be involved in that. Does that make sense?”

“Yes, yes it does. But why do the girls know?”

Felicity smiled over at Oliver. “It was accidental. Kind of. I mean, it wasn’t accidental but…it was. One night Oliver got hurt. I was at home with Laurel, and Dig and Roy come barging in with Oliver between them. Of course they were all clad in their leathers. Oliver passed out on the kitchen floor and Dig had to do emergency surgery. Laurel chose that moment to walk down the stairs. And she―”

“You look like my daddy! Does he look like Daddy?”

“Humph. Daddy’s taller. And bigger.”

Oliver turned to see Ellie and Parker standing behind the couch, staring at William. “What are you two doing up?”

“We heard someone knocking and thought there was a burglar. I even brought this down for you, Daddy.” Ellie handed him his bow and quiver. “But he looks nice. Don’t shoot him.” She marched right up to William and extended her hand. “I’m Ellie Queen. But you can call me the Tigress.”

Tears shined in William’s eyes as he shook her hand. “Hi…Tigress. I’m William.”

“Ellie! Parker! What are you doing…oh, hi.” Laurel dropped down next to Oliver. “Who’s that?”

Oliver put his arm around his oldest daughter. _Give me words, please._ This could be the hardest, but yet most glorious thing he’d ever done. Introduce his daughters to his son. “Girls, this is William. He’s your brother.”

“My brother?” Parker flipped over the couch and into Oliver’s lap. He hadn’t meant to teach her that, but she figured it out. “I’ve always wanted a brother.”

Laurel turned questioning eyes at her dad. “I don’t understand. He’s a lot older.”

“Those questions can and will be answered when you’re a little older, but for now, all you need to know is that he is your brother.”

Ellie squinted her eyes at William. “So that’s why you look like Daddy. Can I ask you something?”

“S-Sure.”

“Do you know that he is the Green Arrow? And my mom is Overwatch?”

“And Aunt Thea is Speedy and Uncle Roy is Arsenal! Oh, and Diggle is Spartan.” Parker left Oliver’s lap and went to sit next to William. “And _I_ am going to be the Huntress when I grow up.”

William’s eyebrows shot up. “The Huntress? Wow, cool name. You know, I think it’s way past your bedtime. I promise that I’ll be here tomorrow, and then we can talk about cool names, okay?”

A sense of relief washed over Oliver as William finished his sentence. Maybe, just maybe, this meant that his son was willing to reconcile and… all of his thoughts stopped when Ellie climbed onto William’s lap and gave him a hug. “I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. I’m going to show you my room. It has lots of pictures of us.”

“Yeah, and then you can know all about us.” Laurel smiled at him. “Goodnight, William. Mommy. Daddy.” She exited with Parker and then Ellie followed behind.

William pushed himself up. When he set his right foot down, Oliver noted the slight wince. Fatherly instinct kicked in, but he stopped himself from asking questions. Those could come later. Right now…

William slid his hands into his pockets. “I’ve missed out on a whole lot, and though I’ll never be able to regain that time, I want to get to know you…and my sisters. C-Can…can I come over tomorrow sometime? Before you go out?”

“Yeah. That would be fine.” Oliver knew awkwardness―he was the definition of awkwardness at times, but what could he say in this situation? ‘I love you’? ‘Thank you for coming by and sorry I didn’t keep you in our life’? Felicity placed her hand on his bicep and squeezed.

“Umm…” William scooted to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah.”

As he opened the door, his son turned and looked straight into his eyes. “And…Oliver…I forgive you.”

 

 


	2. Freedom of Sorts

_I forgive you_. Somehow Oliver held himself together until the door shut. Then Felicity’s arms enclosed around him and the sobs started. He hadn’t intended on crying like this. Maybe a little in bed after his wife fell asleep. _I forgive you_. Those three little words released a nine-year stronghold of guilt and anguish in his soul. Ever since he recorded that message and sent it to Samantha, he went back and rewrote his decision a thousand times. What would have happened if he kept William with him? What if Felicity helped make that decision? If he allowed her to, the engagement wouldn’t have been called off. And then maybe Laurel Lance would still be alive.

Everything that had happened since that day had stemmed from his son. William. Who, just two minutes ago, stood in the foyer and said, “I forgive you.” It was almost as if everyone who had died because of him, everyone who had lost their family, their innocence because of him…it was as if they all said those words.

A long time ago, after Laurel died, the team convinced him that it wasn’t his fault she died. She made the decision to be the Black Canary. And he recognized that. But if his head had been in the game, he would’ve jumped on top of her instead of her covering him with her body. And what about Shado? His mother? His father? Tatiana? Those deaths were his fault.

_I forgive you._

He squeezed his eyes shut. Mom smiled at him. “I forgive you, Oliver.” Shado looked at him next, with her serene smile that was his light on the island. “You were forgiven a long, long time ago.”

Felicity pulled him down to the ground and then wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re forgiven, honey. Every one of those people you thought died because of you? Trust me, they forgive you.” She planted a long and loving kiss on his forehead. “You are forgiven, Oliver Queen. I know you don’t you are, that you don’t deserve forgiveness, but…you do. Your son forgives you. And he forgives you, everyone else does. Laurel, your mom, your father, and Shado included.”

He dropped his head down onto Felicity’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

“For what? I do these speeches all the time. I should have something on my bio on the website. ‘Can give dramatic speeches for free’.” She giggled when he laughed into her shirt. “There’s the Oliver I love. I was a little worried you were reverting back to your old ways.”

He pulled away from her and rubbed his face free from the tears. “I’ve been better at not doing that.”

“I know. But I still get worried. You gonna be okay? Or as okay as you can be?”

Oliver took a shaky deep breath. “Yeah. But I do need to go out for a while.”

“I’ll be your eyes and ears. Wait, no, I will be your…Overwatch.” Felicity winked as she marched to her computers. “Gang bangers, robbers…what do you want tonight?”

He took his back-up suit from the closet and worked on getting it on. “The team got anything going on right now?”

“Nope. From my security cameras, I can see that Roy and Thea are sleeping and Dig went home. I could scare them and send them to a random traffic stop.”

“Let them sleep. I’m sure they’re enjoying this, being away from that demon child of theirs.”

“She’s not that bad. Basically a little more high-strung Ellie.”

“Which is scary to think about.” He flipped the mask on and smiled. “I’ll hang out on a rooftop and wait for you to get me something. It’ll clear my head.”

“Be careful. I love you.”

He blew her a kiss. “I love you too.”

                                                *******

William came at eleven. Before that, Oliver had to sit all three girls and tell them stories so that they wouldn’t wreck the house with anxiousness. They couldn’t wait to hang out with him, and apparently two hours of waiting was enough to drive them crazy.

When the doorbell rang, Oliver kept the girls on his lap so that they didn’t scare the poor kid when he came in, but instead it was Roy. With Thea right behind him, giddy with excitement to meet her nephew. And then their little girl. Dearden Moira Harper. She let out a long wail as soon as she stepped inside. “Mama won’ wet me eat a doughnut!”

Thea let out an exasperated sigh and scooped her up. “Because if you one, you’ll get a tummy ache like you did last time. Remember that?”

“ _No_!”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “How about a doughnut that has―”

“I do not need to hear another parenting suggestion, Ollie. Your last one was quite enough, thank you very much. When is William coming?”

“He should be here any―” the doorbell rang again. “Now.” Oliver gave the girls a stern look and then went to open the door. “Hi, William.”

“Hey. Oh, wow. Everyone’s here.” He stepped into the foyer, looking like a kid in a candy store. “Hi guys.”

“Hello!” Thea passed Dearden to Roy and extended her hand out. “I’m Thea. Ollie’s sister. And this is my husband Roy and my daughter, Dearden. Can you say hi, sweetie?”

“Hi! Do you have a doughnut?”

William’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh, no. S-Sorry…?”

“I don’t wike you.”

“She wants a doughnut, so please ignore her. She’ll warm up. It’s really great to meet you. Officially. I met you a long time ago.” Thea smiled, and Oliver caught a few tears welling up in her eyes. “You were really little then. And now you’re taller than Ollie.”

Parker ran up to William and gave him a hug around the legs. She did it often to Oliver and all of her ‘uncles’. “You smell like Daddy.”

“Do I?”

“Uh huh. Ellie says Daddy smells like sweat a lot. Did you go and save people?”

William chuckled as Oliver groaned. “I did go work out, but I don’t do what your daddy does.”

Oliver took a deep breath as William said ‘your daddy’. He hadn’t earned ‘our daddy’ yet for him, but it still stung. Even though he’d never been a part of his son’s life.

Ellie eyed him with suspicion. “But if you’re a part of this family, you at least have to have a codename. What’s your codename?”

“I don’t know yet. We’ll have to work on that.”

A ding sounded. And then an alarm went off. Felicity shrieked and scuttled to her computers. “Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. Of all the days for this to happen…”

Oliver went to her side. “What’s wrong?”

“Hostage situation. Macy’s store. Which sounds completely ridiculous.”

“Who’s doing it?”

“I don’t know. Just assume they’re all armed and very dangerous.”

“Okay.” Oliver turned around to face the group. His side-kicks had disappeared, and Roy yelled from the bathroom, “We’ll be out in a minute. Call Dig!”

“Already on it.” Felicity scooted her chair to her other set of computers. “He’s on his way to the store with his gear. He’ll meet you there.”

Oliver pulled his green Kevlar jacket on and then stepped inside the big closet to put on his leather pants. He buckled his holsters on and threw the quiver onto his back. “I’m ready, Felicity.”

“Perfect. And you look gorgeous. Anyways, let’s go over our battle plan. Dig, you on the com?”

“Yep, Felicity. Lyla is here with me too if you need her.”

Oliver glanced at William, who had taken a seat next to Laurel, his mouth in a permanent ‘O’. The poor kid. He’d been in their lives for all of five minutes and already they had a hostage situation and now three of them stood in the living room with leather suits on. This had to be a shock. “Tell her to stay home. We’ll get this handled. Roy, I want you to take the left end, and scout out a way of entering without disrupting alarms and―”

“Alerting the bad guys. Got it.”

“All good?” Oliver eyed his wife, who nodded.

“Be safe. I’ll be here. As your Overwatch.”

He grinned at her and then headed out to the garage. Being married to a billionaire helped, because they each had spare bikes at every house. He slid his helmet on and tapped the com. “Green Arrow checking in. Got me?”

“Yep. Take a right out of the neighborhood.”

                                                *****

William went to sit next to Felicity, whose fingers flew across the keyboards. How was she so calm? This was a hostage situation they were talking about. And her family was going to put their lives on the line yet again to stop it. “Does this happen often?”

“Hostage situations or getting called away to duty during family reunions of long lost family members? Because the latter is very infrequent, I promise you. Though I have had reunions with dead people.”

_Whaaaaaat?_

“Not like that. They’ve actually come back. A few years in this life and you get used to ex-dead people―”

“Felicity!” Oliver’s voice stopped her. “Please stop talking in my ear. It’s not helping.”

“Funny, I remember Oliver telling you that same thing ten years ago.” Thea scoffed. “I guess some things never change. And seriously, Felicity. Stop traumatizing William.”

Dead people back from the dead? Family members back? How many times had these people died and come back? What was with this family? Honestly, it didn’t scare him. It just _concerned_ him. Here four little girls played in the living room while their parents risked their lives.

“What’re the sightseeing options at Macy’s? I can’t see anything. They did it the old fashion way and just broke the cameras. I hate it when they do that.”

“From my point, I see five guards. Speedy?”

“Two. Arsenal?”

“I got one. Looks like he’s good though. Really cocky too. Spartan?”

“I have two on the ground. They spotted me.”

“Everyone’s gotta take their guards out right away or we’re toast. On my count.”

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut as Oliver counted down. She only opened them again when the coms turned on again. “Everyone good?”

They all responded but Oliver.

“Green Arrow? Are you good? Are you okay?” Each word she spoke became more panic laced. “ _Oliver_!”

“Overwatch, we have an issue.” Diggle – William guessed – came over the line, breathing hard. “Oliver’s gone.”

“What do you mean he’s gone? Not dead, right? He’s not dead. He can’t be dead. John!”

“Not dead. Taken. I have his bow and quiver. And there’s blood.”

William scooted closer, panic rising in him as Felicity started crying. He read books and watched movies. He knew what happened to people who were kidnapped. It was the same thing for the Green Arrow, right? Torture? His stomach twisted at the thought.

But right now the biggest pain was seeing Felicity Queen crying. Panicked cries reached his ears as she set her head in her hands. “Felicity…”

“Felicity, there’s another problem. And please….take a deep breath. Much better. Breathe. We’re going to get him back. Ollie’s tough. This is not the first time this is happened.”

Felicity sniffed hard and pulled herself up into a sitting position. “Okay. What’s the issue?”

“These men are dressed like Slade Wilson.”

                                                ******

Oliver forced his eyes open and surveyed his surroundings, The walls were wet. Underground. And maybe near water. Their old lair dripped water all the time, and they had a drainage field close by. He tugged against his chains, getting a bearing as to how hard it would be to get out. Ten seconds later, he relaxed against the wall. Whoever did this was good. He couldn’t get out of these.

A door opened and then he could heavy footsteps, along with the sound of Kevlar and some sort of armor rubbing against each other.

“Hello, Oliver.” The man stepped from the shadows. “I’ve looked forward to this meeting.”

 _Oh, no, no, no._ Oliver squinted at him as his blood ran cold. He wasn’t scared of many things or people, but Slade Wilson was one of them. He killed his mother. Wreaked havoc on Star City. And tried to kill Thea and Felicity. “S-Slade?”

“No. Slade was my father. I’m Grant. Grant Wilson. And I am here to finish what my father started.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I wasn't really intending to do that. I was just writing and boom! I wanted to introduce a character and not a good one. Seriously, am I the only one who does that? Anyways, I was going to use that first part as the final part in my story, but I think I have a better idea. Hopefully. :)   
> Hope you like it!


	3. Overwatch on Site

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Oliver kidnapped and hostages being held at Macy's, the team must come up with a plan. Felicity's? Come with them and go through windows and shoot bad guys.

“So basically we have two issues.” Felicity paced her platform at their lair. Given time to calm down, she switched into her ‘must save the world’ persona, and the panic she felt an hour ago was gone. In its place was fire. “We have at least fifteen hostages held by either Slade Wilson or someone similar. Either way, both bad. And Oliver’s kidnapped. I don’t know which one’s worse. Obviously my husband being kidnapped is awful, but technically the hostage situation is worse.” She dropped to her chair. Her first reaction was terror, and then heartbreak. She knew how long it would take for the nightmares to subside after another kidnapping. Yet another traumatic experience. Funny how she knew Oliver would come back from this. Everyone did. Except William.

William. Her “adoptive” son. The one who she knew she loved ever since she laid eyes on his picture that day that Samantha came to them with the news that William had been taken. Sure, she left Oliver after they found him. But deep in her heart, she knew that leaving him would be for the better. It would help him grow as a person. He would become the man she knew he could be. And he did.

Now William stood in one of the corners watching the computers light up with information, his face pale, his entire body shaking. Every so often, tears would fill his eyes. He looked and acted like a young panicked Oliver Queen. “Hey, William. We’re going to get him back. I promise.”

“Hmmm.”

The elevator opened and Thea stepped out. “Dearden is at the nanny’s. So the first priority is finding who is doing this, right? I can hack something. It’d be better than hitting something or someone.”

“Fine. I’m going to spend my time finding Oliver. You look up reports of Slade Wilson.”

Diggle leaned against the table and pointed at something on Thea’s screen. “We’ve seen a lot of copy-cats over the years, but―”

“Thanks to them, Oliver flew me out a window and down five stories.” Felicity glanced at William, whose jaw dropped. “Not something you needed to know.”

“As I was saying, all of the copycats have their signature thing. In the picture I got and the pictures we have of the serum soldiers from the attack, there’s no difference.”

“Interesting.” Felicity’s fingers stilled as a fact that she should have questioned earlier dawned on her. “Umm…so if you all are still here, why don’t we have someone to torture?”

Thea spun her chair around to glare at her husband. “Told you she was going to ask that question. Mr. Harper, would you like to explain?”

“It was your fault too.” Roy cleared his throat. “We heard Oliver…yell…and we all went straight to him. It wasn’t the smartest decision but―”

“Oh, no, it wasn’t. _It_ was stupid. Because Oliver isn’t here, is he? And now we don’t have anyone to get information from. Ugh. And now this stupid thing isn’t working.” Several expletives came out of her mouth. Her wound-together and careful pushed-away nerves were getting closer to blowing up. She couldn’t afford to do that.

“Felicity.” Dig put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s all going to be okay. We’re going to get these hostages out, and we’re going to get Oliver back. Just like have so many times before. We keep each other safe, and we’re going to do that. But we can’t do our job if your head isn’t in the game.”

 _Take a deep breath, Felicity._ “Yeah. I know that. I’m sorry I yelled. I’m going to count to ten and then I’ll be fine.” She got to ten, and decided she needed ten more seconds. “Hold on.” She ended up counting to fifty before her heart rate turned to normal and she could breathe again. “Okay. Alright. Let’s go. I’m coming with you to get the hostages. A long time ago, Oliver and I formulated a plan. If we were down a fighting team member, I would come with. And since the leader is not here, I have the power since I am his wife. So don’t you dare argue with me. I’ll use Oliver’s spare hood and his bow.”

Dig looked like he needed to count to fifty now. “Okay. Do you have a signed document of some sort we can look at? This whole…Oliver agreeing to this seems rather shocking.”

“I don’t have a document. But I can cross my heart and say that I’m telling the truth. Now can we move out?” She marched to the weapons area and grabbed two holsters. Her pink gun had long since been abandoned for a sleeker weapon – her glock 19. That one went to the holster on her hip, and a backup glock attached to her boot. She ignored the looks of concern from everyone else as they replenished their weapons and talked amongst themselves. They probably thought she took shots of that Tennessee whiskey before she got to the lair.

“Felicity, where would you like me?” William turned expectant eyes on her. The dear thing. He wanted to help.

“Do you know how to do simple computer stuff?”

“Yes. I’ve taken a few computer classes.”

“Perfect. I need you sitting at my babies. My computers, I mean. Do not touch any of these on the left. Ever. You can use the middle one to track us and listen to the conversations from our coms. If I tell you to, you can use these on the right. Got it?”

“Yes. Uh, be safe.”

“We’ll be back. If the babysitter calls complaining about the girls fighting with their fake swords, tell her to put on Barbie.” She swiped Oliver’s extra hood from a drawer, attached his extra quiver and bow to her back, tucked her tablet under her arm, and followed the team out. “Dig, can I ride with you?” Each team member had motorcycles – even Felicity – but she didn’t like riding hers without Oliver.

“Sure. Just make sure to put a helmet on.”

Going ninety, it only took them ten minutes to get to a building across the street from Macy’s. Felicity now sat on the rocky roof ground, pulling up more information on the building. “The easiest and fastest way to get in would be the storage unit door, but that’s not possible. There’s way too many explosives rigged there.”

“Oh, that’s smart on their part. How about the roof or through one of those windows?” Thea pointed to the glass windows that lined the top of the building.

“As my tablet is proving, there’s no other way in. But it would have to be everyone at once ready to fire. There’s forty people in the store. I don’t know who’s a bad guy or not. Meaning we have to prepare for the worst.”

“Can we call Barry?”

“I’m surprised you would suggest that, Dig. No, he’s off in Russia chasing some bad guy who can travel back in time with…I don’t know. So no Barry. It’s just us. And before someone says that I can’t do this, Oliver taught me how to go through windows. I can do this, guys.”

“Okay. We’ll all go through at once. Shoot me a line.”

Felicity drew an arrow and fired it at the building. A sense of glee struck her when the arrow stuck. After shooting a line for Dig and then for himself, Roy gave Felicity a hard look. “I know you know exactly what you’re doing, but as soon as we land, there’s gonna be gun shots. You pull out that gun and fire. Got that?”

“I do. I am ready. As I’ll ever be.” She made up her mind so fast that she didn’t have time to be nervous. But now, as she put her gloves on to keep her hand from being rubbed down to the bone, butterflies flipped her stomach upside down. “I can do this. I can do this.”

“On my count. Three…two…one.”

They all pushed off at once. Felicity squelched a scream. _Breathe, breathe._ Oh, this was so much easier when she had Oliver with her. She positioned her legs so she could break through the glass. Diggle, who’d done these terrifying jumps a few more times than she had, fired several shots at the glass just before they went through. She landed in a heap but jumped up, gun cocked. But the red ones had already downed the four guards. _Darn._ She would have felt better about herself if she shot someone right away. But hey, at least she made it through the window.

“They heard us, so let’s go.” As two guards came running up the stairs, Diggle fired his tranquilizer gun. They both tumbled down again. “We’ll take the guards out together, but Speedy and Overwatch, your job is to get the hostages out. Arsenal and I will make sure there’s no one else in the store, and get a couple of them back to the lair for questioning.”

“The infrared readings on my tablet said they are down near the makeup department.”

“Good thing I know where that is.” Thea jumped over the railing, while Felicity fired an arrow at the ceiling and then more slowly dropped to the ground. Her sister-in-law had only had one kid so far. Felicity had three already. Her body was a little more…fragile.

Thea went around the corner just as a bullet whizzed past Felicity’s head. “ _Speedy_!” She unclipped the safety and peeked around the corner. _Well, here comes the opportunity to shoot people._ She fired an arrow at the guy who had Thea pinned, and then used her gun to shoot another one in the shoulder. Thea handled the rest. “Thanks, Overwatch.”

“I feel like I should get a different name for this mission since I’m not watching over you guys. Spartan, how’s it going?”

“We’re taking a different route, so we’ll be there soon. Get ready to shoot, you two.”

They came up behind a clothes rack near the hostages and Thea put her hand on Felicity’s arm. “You’ll be much better off using your gun. Arsenal, are you in position?”

“We’re ready. There’s twelve from our position.”

Felicity held the glock in hers hands, willing herself to calm down. Her hands slipped on the gun, and drops of sweat rolled down her face. She probably looked like a deranged wife with tears streaming down her face. When she got Oliver back, she would hug him and then punch him for getting kidnapped in the first place. “I’m ready.”

Thea stood and fired off arrows as Roy did the same across the room. Felicity whipped out her second gun and pulled the trigger on both of them. One man fell while the second bullet slammed into a post. _Not bad._ She downed one more just as Thea fell beside her. “Oh, God. Speedy!”

Thea bit out, “I-I-I’m…okay.” But the blood that pooled on the ground said otherwise.

Rage filled her. She gritted her teeth and grabbed the bow. _You wanna hurt my friend? Fine. Let me hurt you._ The guns dropped to the ground and she grabbed Thea’s bow. The arrow fired into the last standing bad guy and he fell to the ground. Roy finished him off with a crack to the skull with his bow. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. Speedy. Are you okay?” No answer. Felicity scrambled to check Thea’s pulse. “It’s weak. Really weak. What do we do?”

“Arsenal, you get her out of here. Captain Lance has an ambulance. Overwatch, we need to get these hostages out. SWAT is coming, but I want to get them out before anyone else shows up.” Diggle was untying a sobbing woman, who, as soon as the zip-ties came off, grabbed a little boy next to her, her sobs filling the room.

Roy scooped Thea into his arms and hurried away with her. Thea’s blood dripped behind them.

Tears in her eyes for her sister, Felicity watched them go, but as soon as Roy disappeared around a corner, she scurried to help Diggle and in two minutes, everyone could move again. “I’ll lead them out.”

“Front door. I’m securing a few of these guys.”

“Let’s go!” Felicity started towards freedom. For these people. She’d been held hostage before, and those moments still brought a shiver to her spine. No matter how many times it happened, she could never, ever forget those hours of terror.

                                                *****

Oliver rested his head against the wall as Grant rambled on about his father. And hate. And something else he probably should have been paying attention to. But he’d long since learned that in order to get through something like this, he needed to keep his mind off it.

So he reimagined the best moments of his life. He and Felicity’s first wedding. How hard she cried over the coms as Ray Palmer officiated their wedding. It summed up their relationship: reckless and beautiful. And slightly crazy.

Laurel’s birth came to mind next. Felicity went into labor in the middle of a bomb-threat, and she insisted on continuing until everyone was home safe. Their first baby was born in the lair that night. Thank God for Dig and his I-have-training-in-everything mindset. Oliver had been too panicked to birth a baby that night.

Two years later, Ellie came along. This time in the hospital. They got there in time. Well, Felicity did. Sara showed up two hours before with a request for help on her and Ray’s latest mission. Oliver got to the hospital just as Felicity let out her last scream and Ellie came out, squealing. That was the moment he knew that this little girl would be much different than the last. Ellie liked computers and toy guns by the age of two.

And then came Parker. She smiled at him the first time he held her. She even liked Ellie from the start, even though her big sister announced that she “hated this little rat”. Roy had a stern talking to after that one. He wasn’t allowed to teach kids new words anymore.

“You’re not going to be smiling in a few moments.” Grant pulled out a sword. “This was my father’s sword. He said he killed your mother with it. And that she convinced him to kill her so that you and your sister could live. Shame that your sister isn’t here right now too. Though I just received a message that she is heading to the hospital, mortally wounded. The driver wants me to know that…she might not make it there alive. Her or Arsenal.”

“You son of a―”

“My father warned me of your team. John Diggle. Quite competent in all fields of warfare. Thea Queen, who apparently bested my dad on Lian Yu. Roy Harper, even without the Mirakuru is supposedly quite the fighter. And Felicity Smoak. Queen. Sorry. Skilled at anything to do with computers. Good with aiming needles. And will do anything. _Anything_ , to get someone she loves dearly back. I bet those three gorgeous little girls feel the same.”

Anger ripped through him as Grant smirked. A fire lit in his heart and spread throughout his body as he growled, “Don’t you _dare_ touch them. Or you’ll take your last breath on this planet in agony.”

“I’m sure you’re a master at torture. And if I let you go, you could kill me. But I’m trained. By the same people you were trained by.”

“I highly doubt that. Most of them are dead now.” That comment earned him a punch in the jaw. It stung, but what hurt more was the terror rising in his gut. Grant had the Mirakuru in him. Not as much Slade had in him, but any man with the drug posed a dangerous threat. Especially to the team who no doubt had a plan to rescue him.

“The thing is, Oliver…I know exactly what you know. I know how to fight like an Assassin, or Bratva. Or ARGUS. And I learned how to torture. I know if your younger years, one of your favorite things to do was shoot arrows into people. I’m sure you got shot a few times.”

Dread filled him as Grant drew a bow and arrow from his weapons area. “And you know for sure that the only thing worse than an arrow going is an arrow coming out.”

                                                ******

Roy knelt next to his wife as the doctors worked on her. They needed to stabilize her and attach her to blood. The bullet wound had slammed into her abdomen area, causing the loss of blood to be quick and fatal if the doctors didn’t hurry up. “Come on, guys.”

“We’re going as quickly as we can. Don’t worry, Mr. Harper.”

“Hold on, sweetie. It’s all gonna be…” he trailed off as he watched one of the doctors fill a tube with morphine. Way too much. Then he turned and looked out the window. His hand tightened around Thea’s. _Dear God._ They weren’t going to a hospital.

He was in the middle of nowhere.

His near-death wife lying next to him.

With fake doctors.

He pressed his com and signed. _Go figure_. No connection to the team.

And no weapons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise that my plan was to make this a sweet little fic about William and the Queens, but uh.....yeah, that's not happening. It will eventually, but I decided that this would be funner!   
> Next up....Roy and Thea, more Grant, and Felicity!


	4. Help

"No answer. Still no answer. When does Roy not answer his phone?” Felicity set her phone down and turned back to her computers. “Should we be worried?”

Diggle, who had been reloading his guns for the past fifteen minutes, shook his head. “I don’t know, Felicity. I’m sure Thea had to go into surgery and maybe he forgot.”

“But Roy should know. And I need him back to get the information out of that guy. Has he awoken yet? Wait, I can answer that.” She opened the security camera for the “torture room”. They hadn’t used it for years, but right now it needed to be used again. “He’s awake. What do you think?”

“We’ve done this together before.” Dig tipped his head to William. “You’d better lock the screens in case things get a little…”

“Got it. William, we’re going downstairs. If Roy calls, answer it, please.” She followed Dig into the elevator. “It’s been a while since I’ve hurt someone, Dig.”

“We’re gonna hope it doesn’t get to that. Money does a lot of things, and hopefully it gets our guy to talk.”

Felicity stepped out into the dark room, her heels clicking on the steel ground. She’d replaced her army boots with her silver-buckled heels for intimidation. At least that was how Oliver did it. “How’s your head?”

“Fine. Where in the world am I?”

“Nowhere. And you’ll be even more in nowhere if you don’t tell me what I want to hear.”

“Yeah, right. You don’t even know my name.”

“Alexander Sharpel? Yeah, I got it.”

“You little…”

“Oh, yes. I know. I get called that quite often. Anyways, I need to know who your leader is.” She drew her tablet out and pulled up his bank accounts.

“That’s not happening.”

“Oooh, well you have a beautiful bank account here. Three of them actually. I guess I can empty this one here. Queen Technologies thanks you for your donation. We might be a billionaire cooperation, but we can always use more money.”

“You can’t do that.”

“I can. I’ll even send you a thank you note from the company. Now, let’s see. What should we tackle next? How about this second account? Looks like a sizable donation can be sent to Star Labs. They’re also always in need of money. Your poor family. With only ten thousand dollars in the bank. It could be zero in the next five seconds. Hopefully your wife has her grocery shopping done for the week.”

“Fine, fine! I’ll tell you. It’s Grant Wilson.”

Felicity schooled her features. Not that the guy could see them. But she had to so that she stayed calm. Grant Wilson. Slade’s son. If anyone had the last name “Wilson” he was automatically bad, but even worse if he was related to Grant. “And….” _Deep breath, Felicity. You can do this._ “And do you know where he is working? Where his hidey-hole is?”

“Felicity, we’ve got an issue. A big one, actually.” Diggle spoke into her earpiece. “Finish up and get up here.”

What could possibly be wrong now? _Oh, dear God._ What if Thea…? The thought hurt too much. To hide her tears, she got angry. “I’m only going to ask you one more time. Where does he work?”

“I swear to God, I don’t know. He always contacted us using a phone. It’s probably a burner but―”

“Where is it?”

“It would be in my pocket. We’re supposed to carry them with us at all times.”

She yanked it out and held it close to her heart. _I’m going to get you back, Oliver._ “Have fun down here.” When she got back up to the lair, she ran to the computers. “What happened?”

“I decided to send out a tracker on Roy’s com.”

“And?”

“It didn’t come back. There’s no signal.”

“Why wouldn’t there be signal? There’s signal on them unless….crap. Oh, crap.” Her fingers flew across the keyboards to pull up a list that she compiled for them about the coms. They had one weakness: they didn’t work out in the country. “I just charged them so they didn’t die. Unless he accidentally broke it. Maybe he broke it.”

“Lance, where’s that ambulance that you sent for Thea?” Diggle clicked speaker phone.

“I don’t know. I called one. Felicity can track it if I give you the number, right?” He rattled off the number of the ambulance. Felicity typed it in and drew the tracker up.

“No tracker. The last time it was working they were on 55th street. Dig, where does that lead?”

“Towards the country. Basically.”

“Meaning the ambulance was hijacked by one of Grant’s men. And Thea’s…oh, no.”

Lance swore. “I’m headed over there. I’ll have someone deal with the rest of the paperwork. Sit tight until I get there, okay?”

“Yeah.” Dig turned the phone off and looked at Felicity. “I don’t know what to say. Roy can handle this. But he doesn’t have medical training.”

“Hopefully he knows how to pull a bullet out and attach her to blood. Without getting killed in the process. What are we gonna do? There’s essentially two of us, plus Lance, and Lyla. If I can get a location on this phone, we’re gonna need people going there and going after Roy and Thea.”

“I can help.” William, who’d been quiet since they arrived back from Macy’s, stood and came to Felicity’s side. “I can drive and look for them. Maybe with the Lance guy? I’ve used a gun before and I’ve taken some self-defense classes.”

“I think we all know that Oliver would have my head if I let anyone not trained by either the League of Assassins, Bratva, ARGUS, or the Special Forces out into the field with us. William, you can’t.” Felicity put her hand on his arm, trying to pass on her fake-regret. She would rather die than have him out there fighting likely Mirakuru-filled men.

“But you don’t have anyone else! You’re down three team members and you’re severely outmanned. Just give me a gun and I won’t get killed. _You need my help_.”

“We need to talk.” Felicity started the tracer on the phone and then marched to the living quarters. “Dig…”

“The kid’s right. We need help.”

“But he’s eighteen! Sure, he can fire a gun, but I could fire one at age five if I needed to. Not that my mom had guns in the house, but that’s beside the point. I don’t want to put him in danger. And you know that when we find those three, there’s no telling what condition they’ll be in. I don’t want him to see that.”

“I know. I know exactly what you’re thinking. And I know what Oliver would say if he were here. But he’s not here. And neither is Thea and Roy. If we expect to defeat Grant and whoever else, we’re going to need everyone we’ve got.”

Felicity set her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. “You should know that this might be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Hardest decision. Besides breaking up with Oliver that one time. Okay, let’s do it. Send Lance and Lyla to find that ambulance, and we go to find Oliver. At least then we’ll be able to keep track of him.”

“That’s fair. Let’s go tell him. And maybe get him some gear.”

“He can wear Oliver’s hood.”

“But that one’s yours.”

“Yeah, but Oliver’s his father. He should wear that one.” She gave him a smile and then headed back to William. “Alright. You’re coming with Dig and me. Hi, Lyla. Lance.”

“Honey, I’m so sorry about everything that’s going on.” Captain Lance gave her―his daughter-in-law―a hearty hug. “Donna’s really worried.”

“Yeah, I am too. But I’ll be okay. Everyone’s going to be okay. And Quentin, this is William Clayton.”

“I’m Oliver Queen’s son.” William extended his hand. “You’re the police captain, right?”

“Yes, I am. And her father. Kind of. We can talk after this whole thing is over. Felicity, what’s the plan?”

She ran through the plan with the team. “Does anyone have any questions? Good. Lyla and Quentin, you need to leave right now. We’ll leave once I get a location on the caller on this phone. You update me and Dig on everything you see, and as soon as you spot them, you call a real ambulance.”

Lyla squeezed Felicity’s hand. “We’ll get them back.”

“Yeah.” She turned back to her computers. “Aha! I’ve got it. We have somewhere to look.”

“It seems easy.”

“Unless Grant doesn’t know that I’m this smart. Either way, let’s go. I need to grab one thing." She went to their "retired" drawers of weapons that they no longer used. The weapon she wanted still sparkled like it did the first day Laurel Lance wore it. It hadn't been used since that fatal night, but today was the day. It was time that this weapon found the light again. 

Two minutes later, she climbed into the passenger seat of the black van. Diggle loaded several guns, ammo, and bows into the back. William took a seat in the back where Oliver and the team sat on several missions. He had the hood on, and even though he lacked the mask or even the paint, his hard, determined look was one that Oliver wore on their missions. “It’s okay to be scared. If it makes you feel better, I’m always scared before I go on these missions. Specifically because I don’t do this very often. But the first step to being okay is admitting the problem.”

“I think…” William sighed. “I think if I try to fire a gun right now, I’ll probably accidentally shoot one of you.”

“Deep breaths, kid. That’s the best way to calm down.”

“I might forget how to breathe.”

Felicity and Diggle shared a look. They both knew how scary their missions were. Malcolm Merlyn. Slade. Ra’s a Gul. They’d even battled Zoom. But each time, they knew they might not come back. Over the years the missions became clockwork. Sometimes they made jokes about Oliver arrowing bad guys while sleeping.

“This is the place. Oh, thank God it’s dark out.” She clicked on her solar-panel readings and swore. “This has to be the place. I can’t see anything in there.” She buckled the quiver onto her back as Diggle loaded his rifle. “In case you didn’t hear, I have no idea how many people are in there.”

“I heard. But I refuse to listen to it. We’re going to get him out.”

“I know that. But I hope that we can get him back with all of us in one piece.”

                                                ******

Roy turned back around the window as the doctors pulled back their masks and removed their surgery clothes. Without the plastic covering them, their swords were revealed. He clenched his fists and stood up. “Don’t touch my wife.”

One of the men withdrew his sword. “I don’t think you’ll have anything to say about that.”

They forgot to take one thing off his suit when they said that the ambulances weren’t allowed to carry weapons in them. Roy yanked off his batons. The sword slammed into the metal and knocked him back. He jumped onto the bench just in time to block another sword. His boot connected with the man’s jaw, and the baton finished him off.

“You’re not going to win. There’s three of us with swords and you’ve got two batons. With a wife who’s bleeding out.”

 _Get angry, Harper._ Roy grabbed a medical instrument and hurled it. The scalpel pierced one man’s chest, knocking him to the ground. With a roar, he jumped to the desk that held the instruments as the remaining men converged on him. The first man went down when he smashed the guy’s head into the wall. He grabbed a cord and wrapped it around the final man’s neck and yanked.

Now the driver. But that could wait. Roy dropped to Thea’s side. “Hold on, sweetheart.” He surveyed the bullet wound. At least they’d taken it out. But they didn’t stitch it up. Blood poured from her stomach. Ignoring the sudden panic on where the bullet lodged and what it could mean for them, he crudely stitched up the wound. “It’s gonna be okay, Thea. I’m going to get you back to Dearden, okay?”

Dearden. A sob lodged in his throat as he imagined telling his daughter that her mommy wouldn’t be coming home. How would they ever function without her? Roy couldn’t cook. Couldn’t provide that calming motherly hug that Thea gave Dearden. He couldn’t even defeat bad guys like she did. They practically fell at her feet in terror. No one could ever, ever take her place. “Don’t leave us, please. Thea, you hold on, okay?”

It only took a few tries to attach her to blood. Then he got the heart rate monitor working. Her heart rate was still low, but it was steady. All that mattered. He squeezed her hand. “I need to leave you for a little while so I can go take care of the driver. You stay strong, alright?”

He took his batons and opened the double doors. A syringe pushed into his neck. _Not again._ He fist connected with the person’s jaw, but he was the one who stumbled backwards. Bright lights shined into his eyes, but then they were replaced with black dots. So many.

 _Hold on, hold on._ He couldn’t pass out. If he did, they would kill Thea. “D-Don’t…” someone pulled his arms behind his back.

That was the last thing he knew

                                                ******

Oliver gritted his teeth as Grant drew another arrow. Several bloody, broken ones lay at his feet. His mind had numbed to the pain a long time ago, but his body hadn’t. The agony of an arrow slicing through his flesh at full speed had never been a pain he could ignore. It brought back unwarranted flashbacks to the first time someone shot him with an arrow. He was burying his father.

“You know what? I’m tired of arrows. My father didn’t use them much anyways.” Grant dropped the bow. “I feel like it’s time to fully carry on his name. By wielding his weapon on the man he wanted to torture. Eventually I will use the arrows again, and then you will lose your eye.”

 _Come on, Felicity._ He knew her. Grant was right. She would go the ends of the earth to get him back. They all would. Even his little girls. They always said they would shoot bad guys for him if necessary. It always brought a smile to his face. But now, it brought a comfort. That his family – related by blood or not – would come for him.

“I hope you made peace with your family.” Grant and his sword came closer. “Because you won’t be seeing them on this side of heaven.”

The door banged open. “I disagree.” Drawstring pulled back on her bow, Felicity strode into the room. The hood fell below her eyes, but he could the determination in her features as she leveled her aim at Grant’s heart. “Put down the sword or that’ll be the last mistake you ever make.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It should be one more chapter! (If my brain listens to me.) I hope everyone is enjoying this!


	5. A Deeper Meaning

Felicity shifted her eyes to Oliver. He kept his features hard, as to not distract her. But she saw the pain in his jaw. And the blood. Her gaze moved to the arrows scattered around the room. Just like she feared. This sick man had tortured Oliver.

Diggle came into the room with his automatic rifle aimed at Grant. “Like she said. Put down the sword or we’ll both shoot.”

“You’ll both be too busy.” Grant let out a howl. Way too many to count soldiers dropped down from the rafters and came out of the shadows. _Please don’t be filled with Mirakuru._ She fired her first arrow at one, and he fell right away. _Thank God._ She grabbed another arrow and fired it at another solider. He too went down. Diggle hit several rapid-fire, but they just kept coming.

“If you think that you can take all these men down by yourself, you’re wrong. I have a hundred soldiers. You’ll run out of arrows. And ammo.”

Felicity glanced at Diggle, who nodded. She released the bow and screamed. Everyone but her and Dig fell forward. She ignored Oliver’s grimace, and kept up the sonic scream as Diggle picked off as many soldiers as possible.

But then fire shot up her neck and down her arms. She fell backwards as the collar exploded. Pain immobilized her as the soldiers converged on them. Diggle knocked several off, leaving only two, but the leading man slammed him down onto the ground and broke his arm in one swift movement.

“Now that we’ve established that I’m the most powerful, let’s finish this sentence with this.”

Felicity screamed louder than Oliver as Grant’s sword pierced his stomach. She pushed herself to her hands and knees and reached for her bow. But before she could fire, a piercing scream lurched her soul from its destruct mode. Bullets flew above her head and slammed into the two remaining soldiers, and then into Grant.

She looked behind her. William stood in the doorway with an automatic rifle. With tears streaming down his face, he fired another round at Grant, who, even with the Mirakuru, had stumbled back against the wall. William was going to kill him. “Stop! William, stop shooting! He’s down!”

“Oh, God, oh, dear God.” Ignoring the pain in her own body, she crawled over to Oliver. His head drooped. Blood poured from his stomach. William’s hands were pressed against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Panicked cries came from him.

“Wh-What’s happening? What’s going on?”

“W-William, call Captain Lance and tell him that he needs to send an ambulance. Don’t call 911!” She ripped her jacket off and pulled her shirt with it. It would collect the blood faster. “Hold on, Oliver. Don’t you dare leave, you hear? Stay with me!”

The blood continued to seep through her shirt. He needed to be on his back. She scrambled to a table with tools. Ignoring the ones with blood, she grabbed a wire cutter. It would take a few minutes, but they would come off eventually.

William returned with the first-aid kit. “They won’t be here for a half hour. Apparently there was a big explosion somewhere. But I found this in the van. Here, you stitch him up. I’ll do this.” He took the cutter and scooted to the side to work on the restraints. “If I cut him―”

“Just get them off. I can’t stitch up the wound when he’s sitting like this.”

The chain around Oliver’s wrists snapped off. Felicity guided his body to the ground, saying a mental apology for how awkward his legs lay. But his life depended on it. Too bad if his knee had to be replaced. By the looks of the blood around it, it might already need to be. “William, how good are you at keeping your food down?”

“I haven’t puked yet.”

 _Yet._ “Get the chains off and then help me stitch this up.” At least it was a clean wound. She would have imagined Grant would want to twist the sword around a little. William scooted over to her and eyed the wound. Wounds. “What…uh…what should I do?”

“Compress the two sides together. And puke to the side please.” She took a deep breath and then inserted the needle. Diggle did the stitching for the team, and when he wasn’t available, Oliver did it. And right now, Spartan lay off to the side, still unconscious. And Oliver… _breathe, Felicity. Breathe._ She could do this.

When she pulled the string tight and allowed William to release his hands, he turned around and puked. Poor thing. He just wanted to meet his real father and it turned into a nightmare for him. For all of them.

The sounds of sirens reached their ears and soon four medics rushed into the room. Felicity stepped back and allowed them to do their work. One man went to Diggle’s side, but after seeing he was only unconscious, joined the other three. As they loaded Oliver into the back, the head medic―Steve―strode over to them. “Felicity, you can ride in the ambulance with us.”

“He can too.”

“I know we’ve been over this a few times. Only family.”

“This is his family. This is William. Oliver’s son.”

Steve’s eyebrows raised, but he gestured to the vehicle. “Get in. Someone is staying back to wait for an ambulance for Diggle. His condition isn’t critical. We need to go now, so come on.” He helped her into the vehicle, and as soon as William hopped in and the doors closed, they roared off. With the sirens. It was always worse when they turned the sirens on.

                                                ******

William watched the doctors as they frantically work on his dad. He hadn’t paid attention to how much blood he’d been covered in. The sword wound had been enough to send him into a puking spree.

He looked over at Felicity, who stared at Oliver, her lips moving. He could pick out a few words and they all consisted of names. And then he heard it. Two words that tugged at his soul. “Your son.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to imagine Oliver as the dad he grew up with. The one who wiped his tears when he took tumbles off his first bike. The one who would no doubt give him lectures about falling off his dirt bike. The one who would give him advice on how to catch a girl. Clearly he knew how to do it. Most marriages didn’t last two years, but he and Felicity seemed happily married after nine. And with three kids. Girls. He had to smile at that one. The mighty Green Arrow with all daughters so far. And a son, but he only kind of counted. Laurel, Ellie, and Parker were the ones the limelight saw. The paparazzi took pictures of them. Not him.

Loud beeping interrupted his thoughts. Felicity jerked forward and would have grabbed one of the big medical instruments if a nurse hadn’t pushed her back. Felicity shoved her elbow into the woman’s side and struggled to Oliver’s side. “H-Help…him. Please! Oliver, stay with me. Stay with me, Oliver.”

What was going on? William came as close as he could as the four doctors flew around him, shouting orders. He looked at the heart rate monitor. There was nothing. Nothing except a flat green line. “Oh, God.”

A man took the….defibrillator – thank you, first-aid class – and yelled, “Clear!” When the plates went on Oliver’s chest, he jerked up. William stared at the monitor, willing it to give signs of life. The second shock brought no results.

Felicity back away, sobbing, until she ran into William. “I can’t lose him. I-I…I can’t lose him!”

“Hey, shhhh…shhh…they’re not done yet. Hold on, Felicity.” He kept her upright as the doctors continued to work. _Come on, come on. Don’t do this, please. He_ couldn’t do this.

“Fight, Oliver! _Fight_!” Felicity broke free of William and rushed to grab Oliver’s hand. “Come on, _fight_!”

And then, graciously, the monitor stuttered and then the steady rate of Oliver’s heart rate showed up on the screen. Felicity gave a cry of relief as her knees gave out. William rushed to catch her and ended up on the floor with her on top of him. “See? It’s all okay. He’s okay.”

Felicity sobbed into his shoulder. “I thought I lost him. Again.”

So that confirmed his “has one of my family members ever…died?” question. “But he’s okay now. That’s all that matters. If there’s anything I’ve learned in the past forty-eight hours, it’s that he’s strong. You all are.”

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctors transported Oliver to surgery. William and Felicity went to the waiting room. He sat her down and then found coffee for both of them. “I don’t know how long this will take, so drink up.”

“I’ve been here a few times. Crazy how it never seems to get any easier. Oliver’s always prevailed in these moments, but whenever it happens, I always think of the people whose hearts didn’t start beating again. I’ve lost so many loved ones. It hasn’t always been here. Sometimes down in the lair. Sometimes out in the field. I’ve had to listen to my best friends die. To Oliver, Dig, and Thea screaming over a teammate’s body. Most people go through their lives half dead. They barely care as they get married, have a couple kids, and then die. They just sleepwalk through everything. Basically the Walking Dead. But after everything that I’ve been through – that we’ve been through – you start to realize something. Life…it’s precious. And no mask or computer or…anything should ever get in the way of you living your life.” Felicity’s eyes roared to life with passion as she spoke. “All those people who have died…it hurts less when I think of how they lived their lives. To the fullest they could.

“That’s why Oliver and I decided to have kids. That’s why our team has movie nights where we watch the stupidest movie we can find and drink lots of Tennessee whiskey. We want to live our lives to the fullest, because life is the most precious of gold, and it can break at any time.”

William blinked back tears as Felicity put her hand in his and squeezed. “That’s….that’s probably the most powerful speech I’ve ever heard.”

“That’s my job. I charge ten dollars a word. You’re up to…about five thousand. I’m kidding. Mostly. My motivational speeches have helped Oliver and I not become street urchins. So technically I do get paid money.”

William glanced at the doors leading to the emergency room. A sudden panic came over him. “Uh, Felicity, he was wearing his Green Arrow pants. People don’t know who he is.”

“That’s why I had you call Captain Lance. We have a special group who knows our identities and will keep them safe while they keep our…bodies safe. That sounded a little better in my head. But that’s the group that Quentin calls.”

“And the group that hijacked Roy and Thea’s ambulance?”

“I was a little worried about that, but I recognized all of the doctors right away. If I hadn’t, we wouldn’t have gotten in the ambulance. I was fully prepared to take down every single one of those men.” Felicity’s phone rang. “Hey, Dig. Good, you’re alive. Though you were pretty alive when I left too. Anyways, I’m assuming you see Grant Wilson laying next to you, right? Great. Listen, maybe hit him with a sedative and wait until we get the rest of the group back. Then we can take him straight to Lian Yu.”

Lian Yu? That’s where Oliver spent five years. Did they just dump criminals on there? He voiced his question.

“I probably shouldn’t be telling you this. But we have a prison there for the more dangerous criminals. We stored Slade Wilson there. And a bad guy that Barry helped us take―crap! Forget I said that.”

“Barry…Allen. The lady I talked to….Iris, is married to him. Barry is the Flash.”

Felicity winced. “Well, technically I didn’t tell you, so he can’t be mad at me. You probably won’t meet him for a while. He’s in Russia. Another thing I probably shouldn’t have told you.”

“I’m a little surprised more people don’t know about everything. You dump secrets pretty easily.”

“I surprisingly don’t. It’s just when I’m stressed out when I start dumping stuff. Thankfully most of the people I talk to regularly know the truth. Most of it. Only our team knows all the secrets.”

The doors opened and a doctor stepped out. Felicity stood and flashed him a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Hi.”

“Hello, Mrs. Queen. And…you, Son. You look like Mr. Queen.”

“That’s a long story.” Felicity put her arm around his shoulders. “Do you have any news for us?”

“Yes. Mr. Queen is stable. We removed two arrowheads and one bullet, and repaired the sword wound. He is resting in the recovery room. I will alert you when he wakes up. It’s good to see you again. Should I be preparing for a few more vigilantes coming in?”

“Yes. Captain Lance is looking for them now.”

                                                ******

Roy awoke next to Thea. No longer attached to blood, she looked pale, but her chest moved in a steady rhythm. The patch-up job he did with the wound must have worked. “Thea. Thea, can you hear me?”

“Quiet!” A man he couldn’t see kicked him in the ribs. “Prisoners don’t speak.”

Better to avoid injuries as much as possible. Judging by the roaring headache and his blurry vision, he already had a few. So he turned his eyes to Thea’s and willed them to open. _Just give me a sign, sweetheart._

And just like that…her lips curved into a small smile. One of the many boulder’s on his heart lifted. She was okay. If she could smile, then they could both get out of this alive. Hopefully without missing limbs or memory loss.

He surveyed their surroundings. With the hay, fenced areas, and overall putrid smell of waste, they had to be in a barn of some sort. Which didn’t make sense, because one explosive arrow could bring one of these old things down.

Stirring in a stall next to him caught his attention. He glanced at the guard, and seeing that his focus was straight ahead, he scooted as far as the chain would allow and peeked into the other area. _Dear God._ Humans. Lots, and lots of humans. “Look.” He mumbled.

Thea raised her head. Her face went stricken when she saw. “Mirakuru.”

All these people…they were to become soldiers. Thea and Roy along with them. A pain coursed through him. He still remembered the terrors of the serum. Even if his heart said no, his body did it. The serum could make him kill Thea or their little girl.

Dearden. His precious angel. Never mind what the rest of the team called her. She and Thea were his light in the ever present darkness. The idea of laying a hand on one of them brought tears to his eyes. And panic. He jerked at the chains that kept his hands behind his back.

The guard turned around and raised his gun. “Don’t speak also means not moving, buddy. And don’t think you’re indispensable. We can do what we want without―”

“I don’t think you know who you’re talking to.” A voice called from the shadows. Husky, deep and… _No, no, no._ “This is Mr. Harper and his wife we are talking about. She’s a Queen. You don’t want to dispose of either of them.”

Both Harpers swore as Slade Wilson stepped from the shadows. Roy let out a huff of air and closed his eyes. They were dead. Every last one person in this area was dead. Star City would burn to the ground. Slade’s anger would cripple every person and bring them to their knees.

Slade chuckled. “It’s been a while. It took some time to get the ARGUS guards to find my son. Wheezing and playing the ‘death bed’ game works quite well. I might be old, but my son is stronger than me when Oliver Queen defeated me. You’ll never stop us.”

For once, Roy didn’t disagree with the bad guy. The team had more experience, but they were all older too. And not all the people who defeated him first were even on this side of Heaven now.

Slade pierced his sword through the guard’s chest and chuckled as he dropped to the ground, dead. “I think I remember doing this to your mother, dear Thea. I know you find it repulsive, but don’t worry. Once you have the Mirakuru in you, you’ll do just that to your brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so first of all, I'm so sorry I didn't get this chapter up sooner! Life has been busy!!! Also, I am so, so sorry to all the people who thought this was going to be a sweet fic about William and Oliver. I thought so too, actually. But I like writing what's in my head, and this came to mind. So yes, it's going to be Slade and Grant Wilson, finishing what Slade couldn't in Season 2.   
> Comments, kudos, etc. are appreciated!!!! :)


	6. The Kidnapping

Felicity sat at Oliver’s bedside, clutching his hand, muttering to herself and her unconscious husband about dishes that needed to be washed, clothes that were probably moldy by now sitting in the washer, and all the work at the office that was piling up. “All because you decided to get yourself kidnapped. By none other than Slade Wilson’s _son_. This is a new low for you.”

Oliver jerked up, instant panic in his eyes. “Where’re are Thea and Roy? Are they safe?” So he’d been thinking about this for a while. And how on earth did he know about that? She was hoping to give him a nice kiss on the lips at least before she broke all the bad news. “Felicity, _where are they_?”  

Oooh, no. She did not want to deal with this right now. She’d seen every kind of Oliver, and her least favorite would always be the panicked one. Right now he was on the verge of an anxiety attack. Had he blinked since he opened his eyes? And he was shaking. _Where’s one of the girls when I need them?_ “Oliver, take a deep breath. You’re going to send nurses in here any second. We haven’t found them―”

“Grant said―”

“I don’t care what Grant said. Neither should you. Just because they’re captured does not mean they’re dead. You of all people should know that. Do you hear me?” He didn’t. She climbed onto the bed and positioned herself right above him as not to disturb the stab wound. “Oliver, do you hear me?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.” Relief washed over his face. “I thought…I thought that they were already dead.”

“Well, we don’t know where they are so they could be. Oh, crap. I did not say that out loud. Oliver, you just have to trust me on this. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Is William okay? I saw him…” Oliver fell back onto the bed and groaned. “He shot Grant. Two days in our lives and he’s shooting people.”

“He was protecting you. And me and Dig. I think any person, no matter how young or clueless, would shoot up the bad guy. He’s waiting outside if you want me to bring him in.”

“Yeah.”

As she stood up, her phone rang. “Hold on a sec.” She swiped on Lyla’s name and put it on speakerphone. “Oliver’s here with me.”

“Good. Listen, we have a much, much bigger problem. Is Oliver stable enough?”

“Depends on how stable you need him.”

“Okay. I just received a call from the ARGUS prison. Slade escaped.”

Felicity took a deep breath and gauged Oliver’s reaction. He didn’t move. Didn’t blink. It happened. Their worst nightmare came true. No one was safe. Not even William’s own family could escape the wrath of Slade Wilson. “How?” She bit back the urge to swear at Oliver as the pressure on her hand became more and more unbearable. “How did he escape after all this time?”

“We don’t know for sure. But I’m sure he’s involved with this. If we can find Slade, I’m sure we’ll find the Harpers.”

“Dead.”

“Oliver, shut up.”

“Felicity, Slade’s out there. They’re―”

“Oliver, _shut_ _up_! Just stop!” Felicity slammed the phone to the table. She didn’t bother turning it off. Lyla had heard these moments before. “Just because Slade Wilson is back does not mean that he’s going to take us down!”

“He has a Mirakuru filled son with him this time!”

“But we defeated seventy men just like him. We can do it again.”

“Yeah, but look at yourself. Look at me, for God’s sake, Felicity! That was ten years ago. _Ten_ years ago! I’m half dead in a hospital bed. Roy…he could be dead. Sara’s gone. The kids…” tears welled in his eyes as he tried to push himself up. “Felicity, the girls. And William. He’ll kill them all. And I won’t be able to stop them!”

“No. No, you’re wrong. Oliver, you have come so far since you first walked into my office. But the one thing you can’t seem to grasp. And that’s faith. You need to have faith that we’ll defeat these rug rats. We still have a team, and we will defeat them. Just like we have all those other people trying to hurt us. So when we fight these men, you had better remember all those times you’ve― _we’ve_ ―defeated men that seemed far too great to take down. You hear me, Oliver?” She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. Hard enough that he winced. “ _Oliver_?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.”

“Good. Now I’m going to get you discharged because―oh, hi, William.” After over ten years in the vigilante business, she knew every look, every shift. And this kid happened to be a descendant of Oliver Queen. Practically the inventor of every sad, slumped-over posture or facial expression ever. She could read William like a Harry Potter book. “Come over here and let’s talk. We have a few minutes. Lyla, we good with that? Let’s regroup back at the lair.”

“Copy. I’m calling a few A.R.G.U.S. agents to transport the kids over.”

William approached the bed. His hand twitched. He took a seat next to Felicity. “I heard everything. I know who Slade Wilson is. He, uh, killed your mom.”

“Yeah. He did. And he’s been locked up for years. Grant must’ve got him loose.” Oliver, the man who could recover from a verbal or physical beat down faster than Barry Allen could run, snapped back in Green Arrow mode. “We need to get to the lair and put together a plan that includes using satellite or radar tracking to find Slade. He’s probably figured out how to produce the serum again. That’s where we’ll find Roy and Thea. Felicity, get me out of here.”

“Uh, you got stabbed a few hours ago,” William said as his eyes widened, “don’t you think that taking a little bit of a break would be a good idea?”

“This isn’t the first time it’s happened, and I’ve lived through the other ones.”

_It took you a good year to get over the last stabbing, idiot._ She swiped a bottle of painkillers from a cabinet. “Take these and I’ll just enter some information real quick and then we’re out.”

 

An hour later, they made it into the lair. Lyla fussed over Diggle’s wounds and Lance paced the weapons area. He immediately went to Oliver’s side. “You okay, Son?”

“Peachy.”

Lance raised his eyebrows at Felicity. She shook her head and resumed pushing him up the ramp. They took it down after she regained her ability to walk, but then put it back again when Thea got regulated to a wheelchair for a few days. One day of complaining and Oliver installed it again. Good thing they did. The ramp served its purpose over the years. “Alright, team. Let’s assemble. We need to get a battle plan down so that we can attack. Obviously Oliver’s off the board.”

“I am not.”

“Yes, you are. I might have gotten you out of that prison cell, but that doesn’t mean I will allow you to step out of the bunker.” She sent a threatening look in his direction. “So let’s assume Oliver’s out. That leaves four of us. Though Quentin is off the ‘fight Mirakuru soldiers’ party. So three of us. Plus Roy once we get him back. Thea is injured.”

“You have me too.”

Everyone yelled at the same time, “ _No_!”

“Guys, I can handle myself. I can help. I’m hardly a trained fighter but I’ve taken a few self-defense classes.”

Oliver cleared his throat. “Son, I appreciate the offer. And I am very thankful for what you did back there. But…these guys are super-powered. They can run circles around me, and I was trained by the most dangerous organizations in the world. I can’t let you go out there. Just like I wouldn’t let any of my girls out there.”

William walked to the edge of the platform and picked up Oliver’s bow. He spun it around several times and then turned back to them. “I know I haven’t been in your life for…a long time. I’ve only known about you for a week. I could be working for Slade, for all you know. But I’m a part of you. And really, I’m a part of this group. Because you’re my dad. And…” he trailed off as several tears coursed down his cheeks. “My family’s in danger. And you can’t expect me to sit here and watch everyone else go out and fight.”

Oliver looked up at Felicity, a question on his face. Felicity didn’t need to think twice. William spoke the truth. They were family. And what did family do when one of there was in danger? They fought. Every extension of Team Arrow – even the little children – would do anything for their parents or their siblings. And now William wanted to do the same. Nothing could stop him, because…he was a Queen, after all.

She squeezed his hand and nodded.

“Alright. You can help. But you have to promise me to stay out of the front lines of fighting. I’m not losing you again. And before you go, you’re actually going to be taught how to throw a punch.”

A flustered look appeared. “I told you I took self-defense.”

“Pffft. They never teach it the right way. Felicity, is the scanner running?”

“Been running for a few minutes now. Could everyone clear out for a few minutes? Go contact A.R.G.U.S. and check on the kids or something, please?”

When they all left the headquarters, Felicity took a seat in her chair and aimed a look at Oliver. “Unlike most times, I have nothing really dramatic to yell at you. But we need to have some sort of discussion for five minutes.”

                                                *****

Oliver smiled at his wife as she delivered the news of not having any dramatic to say. “You always have something dramatic to say, Felicity.”

“We need to discuss a battle plan for William. I brought him along on that trip because we needed to. Absolutely needed to. I was hardly planning on him actually shooting someone. I’m glad he came along, but…can you imagine the phone call we’d have to do to tell Samantha that we got her Son hurt? Or worse? And Oliver, that crap about self-defense. What a bunch of baloney.”

“I’m supposed to be the Green Arrow, remember? I’m a happy guy. I need to make jokes every now and then.”

“You’re pathetic. And you’re just being like a little puppy because you want a kiss.”

He ignored the pain in his chest and leaned forward. “It’s been a few hours.”

A smile graced her features as she closed the gap between them. “I know. It’s been awful.”

When her lips touched his, for just a split second, all seemed right in the world. And he knew that it would be, once this was all over. Because he had her. And she had him. No matter what happened, they had that.

He dropped his forehead against hers as they parted. “Still as good a kisser as you were twelve years ago, Mrs. Queen.”

“I think you still need more practice. And I―”

A high-pitched scream stopped her from finishing that sentence. If this wasn’t a life-or-death situation, he would have finished it for her. And if that scream wasn’t one of his daughters’. “Oh, God. _John_?”

“I got them, Oliver.” Dig came down the stairs holding Ellie. William carried Parker, who sobbed into his t-shirt, and Laurel trailed them. Oliver spotted the blood on her shirt first, and if he hadn’t been confined to the wheelchair, he would have tortured whoever hurt her for a week before he started actually killing him.

William transferred Parker to Oliver’s lap. He tucked her close to him, trying to calm her down as Felicity enveloped Ellie.

“Bad man, Daddy! The…the bad…man….” Parker curled her little hands around his neck and held on for dear life. “I was…so scarud!”

Oliver looked at Laurel, who stood by them, wringing her hands. “What. Happened?”

“They were in orange and black gear. Like Slade Wilson. But it wasn’t him. Daddy…” Laurel’s face crumbled. “They took Dearden. They took her! I couldn’t do anything. They were so big and strong!”

“Oh, honey…” she’d tried to fight. That was why she had blood on her. She tried to stop them from taking Dearden. Oliver loosened one of his arms from Parker’s grip and pulled Laurel onto his lap. She buried her head into his shoulder and sobbed. “I thought they were gonna kill us. B-B-But they t-took Dearden!”

Oliver looked over his two daughters and to Felicity. She was crying with Ellie, but her head raised for a moment. She didn’t say anything; she didn’t need to. Her eyes spoke more than she could ever say. A long time ago, they decided to have children. And every day, he was thankful they moved past that barrier. But every day, they had to protect them. And up until this moment, they’d been able to do so.

Slade Wilson had destroyed his daughters’ – and his son’s – innocence. And Dearden’s. His sister tried so hard to keep her daughter away from this world. She barely knew that her mom and dad worked as vigilantes. Thea only brought her down to the bunker in emergencies.

And now she would be used as the one thing that made them all consider not having children: leverage.

                                                *****

“No way in hell am I doing your dirty work. Go stab him yourself.” Thea bit out. “And good luck with that.” Slade crossed a finely drawn line when he mentioned her mother and her brother in the same sentence. If she wasn’t chained to the ground, she would attempt to break that man’s neck.

“I’m sure he could easily take me down. But your brother has been injured. I’m waiting on the call to hear if he’s even alive. I made sure Grant knew exactly what would actually hurt him. We all know that your brother is very resilient.”

“And he’s more resilient than you think.”

“Resilient, coward or not, when Grant comes carrying Oliver Queen’s body, you will become my soldiers. And you, along with all these people, will bring Star City to its knees. Once and for all. Without Oliver Queen, his dear Felicity Smoak can’t function. And without her, Star City will never rise from the ashes again.”

“You apparently haven’t met the rest of the team yet.” She growled, covering up her panic and fear of what had happened to Oliver. He could endure almost anything, but what if this Grant Wilson finally got to him? Felicity told her that after Sara died for the second or third time, Oliver told her that he believed that someday it would be him on the table. Dead. As much as the team fought for their lives, and most importantly, their humanity, they always knew that an arrow or a sword could finally penetrate them for the last time.

What if Oliver was dead?

She closed her eyes to ward off the tears. No, no, he wasn’t. Nothing could kill him. Malcolm Merlyn, Ra’s a Gul, Slade Wilson, Damien Darhk and countless others could attest to that. A long time in the future, he would die in Felicity’s arms. Not at the hands of any Wilson.

When Slade stepped away from them, she scooted as close as she could to her husband. “You okay?”

“I think your injuries far upscale mine. Just a little headache. How’re we gonna get out of here?”

“Ollie taught me how to get out of zip ties but he failed to mention how to get out of chains. Was that in your training? Maybe he forgot about it by the time he got to me.”

“This isn’t the time to be funny.”

“I’m just trying to…you know…lighten the mood a little bit. Slade did us a favor by killing the guard.”

“Doesn’t fix our situation.”

Roy spent too time with Ollie at the beginning. His overall depressing outlook on life rubbed off on him. Thea’s trail of thoughts were interrupted when she heard scuffling. “Stop trying to get out of here. Slade’s coming.”

The creep-man came around the corner, followed by several men, transporting the Mirakuru machine. At least that’s what it looked like. Roy’s pale face confirmed it. “It’s gonna be okay, baby. I promise.”

“Thanks to my son, we now have the Mirakuru. And a dead Oliver Queen. Fortunately, I’ll spare you the grotesque details so that you can remember him as you last saw him. Good news is that you won’t have to kill him. You’ll just have to kill his wife. And his children. And John Diggle. Or maybe my soldiers will take care of him. The Mirakuru makes them very susceptible to suggestion.”

“Thea, don’t listen to him. Do _not_ listen to him. He doesn’t have a body.”

“No, Slade would do that. He wouldn’t show us the body. Ollie’s dead.” Thea squeezed her eyes shut to hide the tears. _Don’t cry. Do not cry._ All of her heart wanted to hear Roy and fight, but instead, Slade’s voice filled her head. Oliver’s screaming to choose him. And her mom’s cries.

And the sound of his sword driving through her heart. Did Grant do the same thing to Oliver? Did he drive a sword through his heart?

“We’re not taking it. Like my wife said, go do it yourself.” Roy bit out, venom laced on his words. “And if you were too deaf to hear that, I’ll repeat it. We’re not taking it.”

“Okay, then. We’ll see if this changes anything.” Slade chuckled as he pulled out his radio. “Bring her in.”

“No, no, no. Please, don’t do this. Slade, don’t do this!” Thea screamed at him as little Dearden came in, holding onto her teddy bear, a terrified expression frozen on her face. “Take her away, please. You can’t do this.”

“Don’t worry. She’s only here for leverage. For now. Now you just have to decide. Five minutes or she dies.”

Thea looked at Roy, who just shook his head. He couldn’t. Nothing could have prepared them for this. One would take the Mirakuru and the other would have to watch the love of their life kill. There was no instruction manual for this.

She closed her eyes again and saw her mother. It was a long time ago, just before she drove her convertible into a tree and got arrested. She thought Malcolm and her mom were ‘doing it’ at her birthday party, and she yelled at her, saying that she wished her mother died on the Gambit instead of Dad. Her mom didn’t say anything. Just gave her a long sad look.

When Thea finally straightened her life out a smidge, she asked her why she didn’t say anything. Her mom said, “When you are a mother someday, you’ll know why.” And now here she was, a mother and a wife, and her heart yearned to take the drug. It meant giving her husband and daughter a chance to get out of here alive, and stop Slade. Roy could do the same thing, but she wanted to do it.

“Slade, give me the Mirakuru.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm sorry it took me so long. Still trying to finish school for the year! Anyways, I hope you like the chapter. I'm not too sure what I'm going to do next, so if you have any ideas....lol   
> As always, kudos, comments, etc. are always appreciated! It helps me to keep going. :)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that William comes back into their lives a lot earlier (please for the wedding!) but I couldn't help but write this, because this is all I could imagine after 4x15. (And can we talk about how heartbreaking those last three minutes were?) Bravo to Stephen for that amazing speech to William, and both he and Emily in that break-up scene. Now I just have to survive two more weeks with now Arrow!  
> Please comment your thoughts! :)  
> P.S. I plan on adding a couple more chapters of William getting to know the Queens and his extended family.


End file.
